Shasta CA

  Shasta Lake History                    Pictures

Shasta Lake started out as a town named Central Valley, which came about with the construction of Shasta Dam in 1938. Project City was built at the intersection of Highway 99 and Shasta Dam Boulevard, a larger Central Valley further down the road, and Summit City on Lake Blvd. The workers at Shasta Dam built these towns because provisions were running low and working conditions were getting harsher. Later on, Central Valley became the commercial hub of workers on Shasta Dam.

Shasta Caverns History

Lake Shasta Caverns is one of three known caverns in the deep limestone beds of Shasta County. The beds originated 250 million years ago when the area was submerged and was subjected to folding of the earth’s crust. This ultimately created the Klamath Mountain range. Subsequent submerging, volcanic action and uplifting of the earth’s crust created the perfect environment for the formation of caverns.

There are many theories on how caves are formed. Evidence supports the belief that the hollowing out of mountains begins when ground water flows through fissures in the limestone. Carbonic acid created by decayed organic matter is carried by surface water through the cracks and dissolved the softer part of the limestone. This creates a “swiss cheese” effect inside the mountain. Calcium carbonate is deposited in the voids and slowly accumulates to create calcite formations. These speleothems or formations take hundreds of years to form and come in a remarkable variety of shapes, sizes and colors. The most common formations are stalactities (hang from the ceiling) and stalagmites (grow up from the ground). Discover how many more formations there are, some quite extraordinary and all beautiful!

Shasta Dam History

California's Central Valley extends nearly 500 miles (800 km) from the Sacramento River in the north to the San Joaquin River in the south. Development of the region by non-Native Americans began in earnest after gold was discovered in 1848, and can be characterized by three overlapping stages of agricultural progress. It began with cattle ranching, followed by dry farming of grain, and presently the specialized and heavily irrigated farming practices of today. While demand for water remains high, average rainfall can fluctuate significantly throughout the Central Valley, ranging from as few as five inches (127 mm) annually in the south to as many as 30 inches (760 mm) in the north. Furthermore, greater than 75 percent of the yearly precipitation occurs in the five months between December and April, making it difficult to sustain crops during the summer months. "Agriculture in the Central Valley prove[s] almost as much a gamble as prospecting for gold. When nature cast[s] the die, the roll [can] literally result in flood or famine." Complicating matters further, the northern end of the valley faces issues of salinity control. At certain times during the year, saltwater from San Francisco Bay can move inland during high-tides, making water unusable for irrigation and other industries. As a result, in the interests of creating a sustained, year-round supply of water, as well as controlling salinity of the Central Valley's freshwater, federal legislature for the Central Valley Project (CVP) was passed in 1933.